Guide
Best apps for planning a trip with friends in 2026 (where Votum fits, and where it doesn't)
Ten tools people actually use when a few friends, or two of you, plan a trip: the shared itinerary, the flights and hotel confirmations, the budget, and the chat where it all gets decided. For each one: who it is best for, where it falls short, what it costs, and whether your friends pay. Votum is on the list, and the honest part is where it does not fit.
Checked November 2, 2026 from each app’s own site or store listing. Prices rounded; check before you pay.
At a glance
| App | Best for | Price | Do friends pay? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wanderlog | A group that wants to plan the trip inside one app, dragging places onto days and seeing them on a map. | Free. Pro is about $40 a year. | No. Tripmates use the free app. |
| TripIt | A trip that is mostly flights, hotels and rentals, where the point is never losing a confirmation. | Free. Pro is $49 a year after a 30-day trial. | No. Viewing a shared trip is free. |
| Stippl | A group that wants itinerary, route map, budget, packing list and expense splitting in one place and does not mind a younger app. | Free. Premium is about €25 a year. | No. |
| Splitwise | Settling money at the end of the trip. It is not a planner and does not try to be. | Free with a daily cap. Pro is about $40 a year. | No, but they hit the same daily cap. |
| Troupe | The stage before the plan: a group of friends who cannot agree on dates or a destination. | Free. | No. |
| Google Maps lists | Collecting places you might go, on the map you already use. | Free. | No. |
| A shared Google Sheet | A group with a spreadsheet person who enjoys building it, and friends who do not mind scrolling. | Free. | No. |
| Notion | A group that already lives in Notion and wants a trip page with databases and a template. | Free for personal use. | No. |
| The WhatsApp group | Talking. Every group trip has one and should. | Free. | No. |
| Votum | A couple or a friend group that planned the trip with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and now needs one place everyone can see it, live it day by day, and keep it afterwards. | Free. | No. Inviting your partner or friends is free. |
1 of 10
Wanderlog
The all-round planner, on a map
Best for: A group that wants to plan the trip inside one app, dragging places onto days and seeing them on a map.
What it does well
- The itinerary and the map in one view, so you can see what is near what.
- Everyone can edit at the same time.
- Forward booking emails or connect Gmail and the flights and hotels appear.
- A budget with cost splitting between tripmates.
Where it falls short
- Busy. New people take a while to find things.
- Offline access, route optimization and the Gmail scanning sit behind Pro.
- No direct way in for a plan ChatGPT or Claude already wrote; you add places by searching.
Price: Free. Pro is about $40 a year. Do friends pay? No. Tripmates use the free app.
2 of 10
TripIt
Every booking in one tidy itinerary
Best for: A trip that is mostly flights, hotels and rentals, where the point is never losing a confirmation.
What it does well
- Forward a confirmation email and the itinerary builds itself. Nothing else does this as well.
- Share the trip with viewers or planners.
- The app keeps the itinerary offline.
- Pro adds flight delay and gate alerts, seat and fare trackers.
Where it falls short
- It organizes bookings; it does not help you decide what to do on Tuesday.
- No budget to speak of.
- Pro is $49 a year and the alerts are the reason to pay.
Price: Free. Pro is $49 a year after a 30-day trial. Do friends pay? No. Viewing a shared trip is free.
3 of 10
Stippl
The newer all-in-one
Best for: A group that wants itinerary, route map, budget, packing list and expense splitting in one place and does not mind a younger app.
What it does well
- Covers most of a group trip: planning, a route on a map, costs, packing, a travel reel afterwards.
- Unlimited collaborators on the free tier.
- Cheaper than Wanderlog's Pro if you do pay.
Where it falls short
- Younger than the others; reviews are mixed and some things are still rough.
- Offline access and the fuller AI features are paid.
- No group voting.
Price: Free. Premium is about €25 a year. Do friends pay? No.
4 of 10
Splitwise
Who owes whom
Best for: Settling money at the end of the trip. It is not a planner and does not try to be.
What it does well
- Add an expense, say who paid and who shares it, and the app keeps a running tally for everyone.
- Everyone in the group sees the same balances; settle up in one go.
Where it falls short
- The free tier caps how many expenses you can add per day (a few) and shows ads.
- Nothing about the plan itself: no days, no bookings, no map.
- Pro is about $40 a year, mostly to lift the cap and scan receipts.
Price: Free with a daily cap. Pro is about $40 a year. Do friends pay? No, but they hit the same daily cap.
5 of 10
Troupe
Deciding before anyone books
Best for: The stage before the plan: a group of friends who cannot agree on dates or a destination.
What it does well
- Suggest dates, places, activities and stays, then vote and comment until the group picks.
- RSVPs and polls, so the people who never answer the chat have to.
- Free, from JetBlue Travel Products.
Where it falls short
- Once the trip is decided it has little to offer: no day-by-day plan, no live screen, no costs.
- A smaller app with a small number of reviews.
Price: Free. Do friends pay? No.
6 of 10
Google Maps lists
Pins everyone can see
Best for: Collecting places you might go, on the map you already use.
What it does well
- Save restaurants and sights to a shared list; everyone sees the pins.
- Directions are one tap away, obviously.
- Free, and already on every phone.
Where it falls short
- A list of pins has no days, times, flights or costs.
- On the trip you still have to remember which pin was Tuesday.
Price: Free. Do friends pay? No.
7 of 10
A shared Google Sheet
The classic
Best for: A group with a spreadsheet person who enjoys building it, and friends who do not mind scrolling.
What it does well
- Anything you want, in any shape: days down the side, people across the top, a budget tab.
- Everyone can edit; nobody has to install anything.
- Free, forever.
Where it falls short
- It does not know what a flight is. Every confirmation, address and link is typed by hand.
- On the trip, finding today means scrolling on a phone.
- It never tells you what is next.
Price: Free. Do friends pay? No.
8 of 10
Notion
The prettier doc
Best for: A group that already lives in Notion and wants a trip page with databases and a template.
What it does well
- Trip templates with days, places, a packing list and a budget table are a search away.
- Looks good and links to everything.
- Free for personal use.
Where it falls short
- Heavy for friends who are not Notion people; the mobile app is slower than a native travel app.
- Offline is unreliable.
- Like a sheet, it does not know what a flight is.
Price: Free for personal use. Do friends pay? No.
9 of 10
The WhatsApp group
Where the plan actually gets decided, and lost
Best for: Talking. Every group trip has one and should.
What it does well
- Everyone is already in it.
- Polls for the small decisions.
- Free.
Where it falls short
- The plan ends up as forty messages, three screenshots and a PDF nobody can find on the day.
- No days, no confirmations, no costs, no what-is-next.
Price: Free. Do friends pay? No.
10 of 10
Votum
The shared home for a plan you made with ChatGPT or Claude
Best for: A couple or a friend group that planned the trip with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and now needs one place everyone can see it, live it day by day, and keep it afterwards.
What it does well
- Paste the plan the agent wrote once and it becomes days, flights, stays, places and costs. Claude and ChatGPT can also save straight to Votum through the connector.
- Share one link. Invite your people for free, or send a view-only link that opens without an account.
- A live screen while you travel: what is next, the rest of today, tomorrow, where you sleep tonight, with directions, the confirmation and the booking link one tap away.
- Each entry carries its cost; a Costs screen adds them up per person or for the group, and the real costs stay with the trip afterwards, with the photos and highlights.
Where it falls short
- No map of the whole trip; each place has a directions link instead. Wanderlog is better if you want to plan on a map.
- No booking-email import and no flight alerts. TripIt is better if the trip is mostly bookings.
- No offline mode, and no voting on dates. Troupe is better before the trip is decided.
- It does not plan the trip. Your agent does; Votum keeps the result.
Price: Free. Do friends pay? No. Inviting your partner or friends is free.
How to share a trip plan from ChatGPT or Claude with your partner · Votum vs Wanderlog vs TripIt vs a Google Sheet · The live trip screen
Pick by situation
- You have not agreed on dates or a place yet
- Troupe, or a poll in the WhatsApp group.
- You want to plan the whole trip together, on a map, inside one app
- Wanderlog, or Stippl if you want the newer all-in-one.
- The trip is mostly flights and hotels and you fear losing a confirmation
- TripIt.
- You need to settle money at the end
- Splitwise. Votum's Costs screen covers the simple case.
- You planned it with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and the next question is where to put it so your friends can see it
- Votum. Paste it, share one link.
- You have a spreadsheet person and patient friends
- A shared Google Sheet.
Questions people ask
- What is the best app for planning a group trip with friends?
- For most groups that want to plan inside one app, Wanderlog: shared itinerary, map, bookings from email and a budget, free for the whole group. If you have already planned the trip with ChatGPT or Claude and just need a shared home for it, Votum: paste the plan, share one link, and your friends see it and live it with you. If the trip is mostly bookings, TripIt.
- Is there one app that keeps the shared itinerary, flights, hotel confirmations and budget all in one place?
- Wanderlog and Stippl come closest, and the classic pair is TripIt for the bookings plus Splitwise for the money. Votum keeps the plan, the confirmation numbers on each entry and the costs together too, as long as the plan came in from your agent or you typed the confirmations; it does not read booking emails.
- Do my friends have to pay to see the plan?
- Not on any of these. Wanderlog, TripIt, Stippl, Troupe, Votum and the Google tools let the rest of the group view and edit on the free tier. The paid tiers are for the organizer's extras: offline maps, flight alerts, lifting Splitwise's daily cap.
- Can I turn a ChatGPT or Claude itinerary into something my friends can use on the trip?
- Yes. Votum is built for exactly that: ask Votum for its short message, send it in the chat, paste the reply into Votum, and the trip becomes days, flights, stays, places and costs with one link for your friends. On the trip everyone sees what is next. The other apps on this list need the plan retyped or re-searched.
- Where do these facts come from?
- Each app's own website or app store listing, checked on November 2, 2026, plus the pages answer engines cite when they recommend trip apps. Prices are rounded and change; check before you pay. Votum wrote this guide, so read the Votum entry as a maker's view and the "where it falls short" list as the honest part.
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